Rome’s Carnival Treats: Our Favorite Frappe and Castagnole in Town.

Not just masks and costumes, streamers and confetti, Carnival is much more in Italy. It is also special food, in particular sweets.

Rome’s typical season sweets are frappe and castagnole, but they are also common all over Central and Northern Italy, under different local names. The fact that they are the typical Carnival sweet of most of the country is due to their ancient Roman origins, when Italy was part of the Roman Empire.

If you visit Rome in February you can’t miss these sugar-covered flat stripes and dough balls in bakeries and pastries.

Frappe and castagnole are usually fried but the healthy version is also available: baked. The real debate, however, is not about the cooking method but the ingredients. We love them plain, covered by icing sugar, but there are many variations more and more common.

Very good castagnole also at Panella, near S. Maria Maggiore, which also has other Carnival sweets from the rest of Italy. [8] Check out this place also for the next gastronomic peak time of the year: Easter!